Mstrust's Second: The Better Half of the Year

Hi, I'm Jennifer in Phoenix. I've been LT since 2008 and my 17th Thingaversary is in March. I can be found at the 75 Challenge and ROOTs group too.
I live with husband Mike. We lost our Boxer, Coral, in May.
I have collections of books about punk/metal/bubblegum pop, the sea and shipwrecks, travel and horror. I'm in Vegas to see my family several times a year, and we go to tiki bars and the annual Tiki Oasis.
I also write a Substack, Autumn Lives Here, that is all horror, true crime and Halloween. It isn't as scary as it sounds, in fact, it's a lot of fun and we have candy. Every other Tuesday is free, so drop by. https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/
And now, the categories.

Mystery, Thriller, Noir

1. Confections, Clues and Chocolate-3
2. The Tasting Menu-4
3. Murder in the Bookshop-3
4. Marshmallows, Mystery & Mischief-4
5. Jellybeans, Jack-O'-Lanterns, and Jitters-1
6. The Book of Cold Cases-4.5
7. Sinfully Delicious- 3.5
8. Truth Truth Lie-4
9. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House-4
10. Death By Whoopee Cushion-3.5

Fiction

1. I Have A Bad Feeling About This- 4.2
2. The Murderess: A Novel- 3.5
3. Slewfoot- 3.5
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower-4
5. The Indigo Room-2.5
6. A Classic Case-3
7. The Answer Is No-4
8. Heaven-2.8
9. 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years-4
10. Dating After The End of the World-3

Horror/Halloween

1. Tales from the Gas Station: Volume Two-4
2. The Dead Children's Playground- 4.2
3. The Haunted Forest Tour-5
4. The Eyes Are the Best Part-5
5. Horror Movie-4.5
6. Jackknife-4
7. Eat The Rich-4
8. This Wretched Valley-4.5
9. Doorbells at Dusk-4.5
10. The Halloween Moon
11. Haint-4
12. The Birds-4

True Crime

1. The Cases That Haunt Us-4
2. Murder By the Book-4
3. Outlaw Tales of Nevada-3.5
4. Blood Will Out-5
5. A Good Month For Murder-4.5

ROOTs

1. Mud Season-3
2. Seeds of Murder-3.5
3. The Philosophy of Punk-1
4. So Many Books, So Little Time-4.2
5. Ring-4

Cookbooks, Travel & Other Stuff

1. Food To Die For-4
2. Foods That Made History-4
3. Vintage Recipes of the 1960s-3
4. Best Housekeeping Best-Loved Recipes-4
5. Japanese Farm Food-3.5
6. Hershey's Chocolate Lovers Cookbook-4
7. Luby's Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Recipe Collection-3.5
8. 2025 Vancouver Travel Guide-2.5
9. Practical Beginners Raised Bed and Container Gardening-4
10. Purely Pumpkin-4.5
11. Drumming Up An Appetite with Vinnie Paul-2
12. The Manga Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening-3
13. The King of Late Night-3

Favorite Authors

1. Murder Road- 3.5
2. The Halloween Store-5
3. The Blanks-4.2
4. Night and Day in Misery-4
5. Criminal Macabre-3.5
6. Twentieth Anniversary Screening-3
7. Welcome To The Ghost Show-4
8. The United States of Cryptids-4

Discoveries

1. Sipsworth-4
2. The Beatles Lyrics-4
3. Cacti & Succulents for Modern Living- 4.5
4. Sour Cherry-4.5
5. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport-4.2
6. Life Among The Savages-4

Drop in any time!

This week, we're going over the tragic case of Opal Petty, and visiting a new vampire museum outside Philly!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Happy new thread -- those cakes are amazing!

Happy New Thread. Yummy cakes.

>12 christina_reads: Thanks, Christina! I know, they look delicious!
>13 lowelibrary: Thank you! Help yourself 🍴

Happy new thread. Does anyone dare take a fork to these cakes?

Thanks, good to see you!
Beauty would not stop me from tearing into any of them :-D

Happy new thread, Jennifer! I almost fell in love with the opening cake until I noticed cinnamon! That was a narrow escape. I'll have a slice from >7 mstrust: instead.

Hi, Vivienne! I like apple cake, but I'd never turn down tiramisu.
I still have several weeks before it's cool enough to bake, but I bought a new cookie jar and I can't wait. I may enter some baked goods at the fair again.

49. Truth Truth Lie by Claire McGowan

A group of long-time friends, along with a few spouses and children, gather on a remote Scottish Island to celebrate the 40th birthday of twins Vicky and Jonathan, whose family owned the island and luxury cabin until recently. The adults begin playing the game Truth, Truth, Lie, with one card containing threats to everyone's lives. This causes some of the friends to panic. Long held resentments surface, setting off a chain of disasters and violence. 4

Taking a BB for >19 mstrust:. I enjoy a good stuck on an island mystery.

PS - the link goes to the wrong book.

You might love this one because they are truly stuck. Shades of And Then There Were None.
Thank you, I thought I'd corrected them all!

50. A Classic Case by Alicia Thompson

Part of Kindle's Busybodies collection, which I guess means nosy characters.
Audrey is an introvert who likes renting old movies from a specialty shop, where she often runs into elderly Mr. Hoffman. He rents the same movie every week, a 60s classic starring an actress who disappeared from Hollywood in her heyday. Mr. Hoffman is so reliable about the day and time he comes in that when he doesn't show up Audrey is concerned enough to try and get the taciturn shop owner to help, leading to Audrey breaking into Mr. Hoffman's house to search for him.

A little mystery, a little romance, and some old Hollywood movies. 3

>19 mstrust: That's going on my wishlist for sure!

I hope you like it! It's available on Kindle, if that helps.

Cake or death? At Autumn Lives Here, we're looking at movies that turned 50 this year, then the true tale of Catherine Hayes, a woman so notorious, so awful, that her crimes and trial were illustrated!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>11 mstrust: Happy new thread! Beautiful cakes! I've done some reading about Opal Petty. I read some years earlier that she won a six figure settlement for wrongful conviction for which she served 51 years in horrendous conditions.

Hi, Tess!
Opal did eventually get a settlement, but nothing even close to being worth what she lived through. My post about her is free to read, so you might be interested. And help yourself to a slice of cake!

>27 mstrust: Thanks, I will on both counts!!

51. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy

Loretta Davenport has been married to her husband Pete since she was sixteen, so he has molded her into the type of wife he wants, quiet and subservient. The type of wife that reflects well on him, as he's ambitious about his job as a theology professor.
When Loretta gets through a very bad case of the flu, she begins having visions about a local missing woman, who shows Loretta what happened to her. Mustering all her courage, Loretta contacts the police and sets about secretly seeing if she really does have the ability to contact the dead. If Pete finds out that she has told people about her visions, or if he finds that she has left the house or spent money on herself, there's no telling how bad things will get for Loretta.

Set in 1950s Ozarks, this Gothic involving religion, the paranormal, and domestic abuse, is a real page-turner. 4.2

>29 mstrust: Taking a BB for this one.

I hope you enjoy it too!

August is pre-Autumn, pre-Halloween. It's in the way. Make the best of it by getting creeped out with a new short story at Autumn Lives Here!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

52. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House by M.C. Beaton

Agatha and her handsome new neighbor Paul are determined to find out why crabby old Mrs. Witherspoon has been saying her Tudor mansion is haunted. Unlikable as she is, Mrs. Witherspoon allows them to spend the night inside, but they're soon investigating her death at the bottom of the stairs. Was it an accident or murder, and if so, who, on the long list of people who disliked Mrs. Witherspoon, would benefit from her death?
I hadn't tried an Agatha Raisin in years, but now I'm hooked. Agatha is surly, vain and smart. 4

53. Twentieth Anniversary Screening by Jeff Strand

A fictional study of a fictional slasher movie from the early 90s, a cheapie that would have been long forgotten if not for the crazy guy in the audience who attempted to recreate the kills among his fellow attendees. The movie was pulled from theaters and became something that only hardcore slasher fans watched on DVD.
Twenty years later, a down on its luck theater promotes a special showing with one of the movie actors. It's a great success, ticket-wise, but this is a cursed movie.

Strand turns out some great comedy horrors, and this novella of just under 100 pages has laughs, but it does lean more towards towards the slasher action. 3

This week Autumn Lives Here has scary books around water, and the biggest trial of 1929.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

This week, I've got the true backstory to a scary classic movie, and the ghost of Charles Dickens hanging out in Boston. Step right up!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

54. This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
Clay, Dylan, Sylvia and Luke, along with Luke's dog, spend a day trekking through the wild woods of Kentucky to reach a previously undiscovered rock. Clay and Sylvia are going to use this discovery in their dissertations, while Dylan, an up-and-coming rock climber who has just gotten an equipment sponsorship, is thrilled at the chance to put it on social media, name routes, and be the first to climb it. Luke is along because he's Dylan's boyfriend.
With a forest full of weird flora and a lack of the normal fauna expected in Kentucky, the group experiences strange phenomena. Luke's dog disappears, the GPS equipment doesn't work, and attempts to backtrack to the car fail. What little they have is being vandalized at night.

I'm keeping this review vague because I don't want to give too much away, but the author has done a very good job in building an isolated atmosphere, with the group having no choice but to rely on each other, even when they shouldn't. 4.5

Hi Jennifer, I was grocery shopping yesterday and I thought of you when I came across some specially flavored pumpkin-spice coffee that was brought out for Autumn. Flavored coffee is not something I are for so I didn't get any but it is a sure sign that Autumn isn't far off!

This Wretched Valley is going on my wishlist as I do love survival in the wilderness stories!

Hi Judy, I'm so glad to see you here!
:-D I'm very happy to be linked to Autumn finds. I stopped buying the flavored coffees a few years ago, as I had to admit that I like a rich coffee flavor with a little vanilla for my morning hot coffee.
BUT...I currently have pumpkin spice Special K in the cupboard, my favorite of the pumpkin spice cereals. I also have pumpkin spice cookies, a variety case of pumpkin beers, and some Chobani pumpkin spice coffee creamer for my afternoon iced espressos. I'm searching for the Hershey's pumpkin spice Nuggets that are out this year. Oh, and I've bought many bottles of Dove's pecan butter crunch shower gel because it's amazing and sells out. So I'm ready to begin Autumn. I just need Trader Joe's to stop dragging their feet and get the Autumn stuff in already.

I think you'll like This Wretched Valley. It's quite a spooky story.

Autumn Lives Here is gossiping about R.L. Stine this week, and all the good things about maple sugar.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

55. Welcome To The Ghost Show by J.W. Ocker

The Creepy Club consists of three members: Zel, Theo and Lucien. They hunt ghosts in Leonardtown, a place that has had more than its share of tragedy due to a factory explosion that killed thousands. And the danger continues, as toxic chemicals from the factory burrowed into the very ground and frequently bubble up.
So it's a strange place for a five story haunted house attraction, especially one that doesn't charge an entrance fee. The Creepy Club knows that there's something sinister going on, especially because the weird owner of the attraction invites Zel to return and see a real ghost.

This is the newest by one of my favorite authors. Though it's listed for the 8-12 year old reader, when Ocker does kid's books, they're often far more creepy than other books for that age group, this one included. In this book, ghosts aren't like the ghosts everywhere else. They are made of flesh and blood and experience tremendous pain. They also bite. It's an unpredictable, creepy story. 4

56. So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson

I really don't like the cover of this book because, to me, it gives the impression that it's a sweet, gentle memoir of a reader who favors sweet, gentle books. It doesn't fit. While this is a memoir, it's about the books that have come into Nelson's life, and what was going on at the time that shaped how the books were received.
There was Facing the Wind, the true crime book written by Nelson's acquaintance that had her looking at her son's Little League baseball ball with anxiety. The French sex memoir that had her cringing, the novels that she unexpectedly fell in love with, and the ones she was told she'd love, but didn't. As a New Yorker living in an upscale neighborhood and working in the magazine/publishing industry, she has the opportunity to tell Calvin Trillin to his face that she's a fan of his forgotten first novel.
But there are darker elements to her reading, as she discusses her husband's sometimes explosive anger while exploring the history of Japanese-Americans and the internment camps, and helps her sister navigate the publication of her own novel.
Nelson was an editor and columnist, but it's a real shame that this 2002 release has been her only book. You'll be writing down titles and googling the people mentioned throughout. 4.2

>42 mstrust: Taking a BB. This sounds interesting.

It really is!

57. The Answer Is No by Fredrik Backman
Lucas is happy without any human connections. He lives alone in his apartment playing video games and having pad thai delivered. His problems begin when the new neighbor's pad thai is delivered to Lucas, and then the woman downstairs come up to complain that after six months of stealing Lucas' wi-fi, he's changed the password.
He was annoyed enough with these interactions, but then someone in the building leaves a frying pan on the sidewalk outside, which leads to more people talking to Lucas, and the inevitable, a Facebook group that believes Lucas is an angel.

This is a Kindle single story that runs to about 75 pages (I can never remember the official difference between a short story and a novella) about the absurdity of modern life, addressing social media and loneliness. Recommended. 4

Here's a story about the mayoral election in Fallville. Completely death-free, unless you count the death of dignity.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>45 mstrust: I have this book on my Kindle, bumping it up the TBR

I thought it was really fun. Hope you do too!

58. Death By Whoopee Cushion by Vicki Grant
Manya couldn't be more embarrassed by the fact that her parents own a joke shop. They like wearing costumes and creating their own 'artisanal' products, like fudge shaped like dog poo. Manya hates it all, as her passion is real science. She and her best friend, both eleven, are attending a science summer school, where their instructor teaches them lots of practical things about chemical reactions.
As goofy as her father is, even Manya can't believe how badly he's screwing up with their line of explosive gags, even to the point of making a new invention so powerful that it kills someone. She doesn't want to think that her parents might be killing people on purpose, but she's not sure.
This was an ER win. It's a mystery chock full of science stuff, a lot of it leaning into grossness, which appeals to many kids. By Chapter Two, the kids are examining a smashed pigeon. At 250 pages, it might be a little long, but it's a fun story once Manya stops being mortified by everything her parents do. 3.5

This week at Autumn Lives Here, meet your gourd, and get some iffy advice from ALH.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Like Judy in >38 DeltaQueen50: I think of you when the first pumpkins and pumpkin-flavoured whatevers start appearing. I have some cooked butternut squash ready for a pie. It's not easy to find pie pumpkins around here so I use butternut, flavoured with orange zest - I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice ☹️.

Your pie sounds really good! I've been coming across a lot of recipes for pumpkin and orange lately but I haven't tried any yet. And I do like butternut, especially the honeynut butternut.

And I'm happy to be associated with pumpkins 😁🎃

59. Doorbells At Dusk, edited by Evans Light
An anthology of horror stories, most taking place on Halloween. In "Mr. Rusty Husk", a man who spent years making scarecrows gets his comeuppance. In "Keeping Up Appearances", a team of home invaders are invited into a house where the family is happy to see them. "Mr. Impossible" is an epic story of two guys who attend the blow-out Halloween party of their much more successful high school friend, a guy whose cavalier attitude is matched by his genius in chemistry.
The stories here swing from spooky and fun to amazingly grim, with fresh takes on the feel of Halloween. It's strange that the story from the best-known author, Josh Malerman, seemed pretty meandering, but I'll look for more from several of the authors. 4.5

At Autumn Lives Here, we're going through the books of J.W. Ocker, and a list of my must-have Autumn buys.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

60. Heaven by Meiko Kawakami

Set in 1991, the two 14 year-old outcasts of their class form a slow and tentative friendship, each unsure if they will find acceptance as they're both accustomed to being mistreated.
Told from the viewpoint of the unnamed boy who has suffered abuse and humiliation for years at the hands of the most popular boy in class and his friends, he watches as the girls in class abuse his only friend, and in turn, she is forced to see him being bullied without being able to help.

It's hard to recommend this. The conversations between the two main characters are possibly the most boring dialogue I've ever read. As their friendship progresses, Kojima begins to discuss her home life and we see something more than superficial reasons for why she's different from the other kids. But the abuse these two suffer at the hands of their classmates is extreme and horrific, with the male classmates appearing to be a group of psychopaths. The lengths that the abused friends go to to shield their bullies and keep any adult from learning about what's happening, even after the boy arrives home soaked in blood with his face beaten to a pulp, made me question if this was meant to be realistic. 2.8

61. Practical Beginners Raised Bed and Container Gardening by Luke Ramsey

Useful info for gardening in contained spaces, along with charts for nutrients and pest control by plant type, zone charts for around the world, and how to build raised beds out of a variety of materials. 4

September Recap-
Mike and I finally made it to the fair last night and found that my double chocolate brownies won first place. And then we ate and ate, sharing birria egg rolls and a banana hazelnut funnel cake. Okay, and a homemade Choco Taco.
And remember that I hurt myself every Autumn? For September I choked for a long time on a stringy piece of carne asada. Mike was uselessly slapping my back, but I ended up with petechiae all over my face that lasted for four days.
And I chopped my pinky pretty deeply as I chopped an onion. So the traditions endure!

This week at Autumn Lives Here, I have Killer Reads, and "The Business of Being Spooky: The Fox Sisters".
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>57 mstrust: Oh no! Here's hoping you survive to try another Autumn catastrophe next year! :)

Thanks, I'm trying. A little superglue in my cut, and a week from now I'll be good as new.
My mom has taken the brunt of my family's bad karma this year with the fractured spine and a small stroke a few weeks ago.

62. The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink
Esther loves everything about Halloween, but having just had her bat mitzvah, her parents tell her she's too old to trick or treat and that she needs to find more grown-up things to do on Halloween. But Esther is determined to never stop, so she presses her best friend into secretly trick or treating on Halloween, and they notice something really weird happening: there are no other trick or treaters and all the adults who should be handing out candy are passed out. That leaves Esther, Agustin, Esther's school bully, and Mr. Garbler, the dentist who hands out toothbrushes, to figure out why everyone is unconscious and why the moon hasn't moved all night.
This is a fun story of good vs. evil on Halloween, for ages 10 and up. It's written by one of the creators/writers of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. 4

Sorry to hear that Autumn is such a dangerous time or you, Jennifer. Today is my birthday and I am celebrating by doing nothing! My hubby is taking me out to dinner later so I don't even have to cook today.

Happy birthday, and I hope you have a good dinner tonight. Doing nothing can be a treat.
I'm flying out to Vegas in the morning to see how Mom is doing. Mike's birthday is in two weeks and he wants nothing but Magic Cookie Bars.

>49 mstrust: Lots of good reads here. I think this one would be some light entertaining fun!

It's fun, and unusual with it being a science-based kid mystery.

63. Purely Pumpkin by Allison Day
I'd been wanting to read this one for a while, and it turned out to have so many great recipes that I want to try. Smoky pumpkin sauce, pumpkin salad dressing, pumpkin polenta and pumpkin breakfast braids. You know it's right up my alley. 4.5

64. Outlaw Tales of Nevada by Charles L. Convis
True accounts of the worst and most notorious outlaws in Nevada's Old West period. The stories feature the teenage 'King of Spain', who was put on trial repeatedly for his robberies, but never convicted because juries where won over by his charming manner. Also, killer Sam Brown, who finally picked a fight with the wrong man. A good source for Old West history. 3.5

65. Drumming Up An Appetite with Vinnie Paul
Paul was the drummer for Pantera and other bands, cultivating a wide array of celebrity friends who put his recipes together and published after his death. Many of the recipes call for ingredients like Steak-Ums or bottled marinade, so it's all more what I would call "putting stuff together" more than actual cooking. 2

66. The Manga Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening by Hideki Yoda
Using a manga family to extol tips about the proper soil and care for individual vegetables, mostly the ones grown for the Japanese diet. Pages are filled with photos showing how procedures are done, how healthy roots and plants should look, and how to spot when something has gone wrong. 3

I realize that I missed some Cake of the Months, but it's back. I hope a red velvet with chocolate cream cheese frosting makes up for it. And a big ass spider.

>68 mstrust: Not sure the recipes would be for me, but that cover is perfection!

There lots of photos inside of Paul with his musician friends too. Definitely a nice gift for a fan.

>70 mstrust: Thanks for making me laugh today! I think the spider that showed up in my shower at home was about that big. . . where did it come from???? That spider took a trip to Davy Jones' Locker.

:-D A few years ago, I walked into our office and found a small tarantula on the ceiling! My scream made it cringe.

67. Haint by Samuel Brower

Set in meth-ravaged Appalachia, a mine collapse releases the haint, a vampiric creature who had been trapped by the holler's preacher a hundred years ago. Now the preacher's descendants, consisting of the sheriff and his drug dealing cousins, have to hunt the locals who were turned into monsters themselves.
A small town horror that turns on modern problems. My only issue is that it could do with some apostrophes, and in one scene, the character names are switched. I know that because one character was already dead. Still, a pretty good vampire story. 4

68. 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi
In this Kindle exclusive short story, the employee of a company that provides time-traveling excursions discusses the types of clients who want to go back in time, usually very wealthy people who want to change history to suit their opinions. The varied reasons for why people want to visit certain historical events, and how the company does its best to ensure a good experience for the client are gone over, along with the results that the employee often sees upon the client's return. If they return.
This one will make you think about what you would do. 4

>76 mstrust: I downloaded this earlier this month. Now to read it.

Autumn Lives Here has spooky book reviews, seasonal chocolates, and the true story of a French guy who went through hell.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>77 lowelibrary: I thought it was a thought-provoking story, in that you can't help but consider your options.

At Autumn Lives Here, we're making my blue ribbon brownies and hands of glory. Creepy crafts! Plus, a few unhinged characters.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

A new story for Halloween is up at Autumn Lives Here! Read "What Dies and What Thrives", I think it'll give you a little fright.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

69. Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn

Kirn, author of Up In the Air, tells the true story of his one-sided friendship with a man he knew as Clark Rockefeller, part of the famous and wealthy American industrial family. The author and Rockefeller got together often beginning in the late 90s, for about ten years, with Kirn, a struggling writer with a young family and a tumbledown ranch, always having to pay, always being shortchanged, always feeling like something was off about this wealthy man who seemed almost able to read the thoughts of the person he was with and knew when he needed to change tactics.
'Rockefeller' was an imposter, a German named Christian Gerhartsreiter who studied American language and culture to such a degree that he passed as an American, taking many names and grifting for decades. In between chapters of Kirn's own interactions with his friend are chapters of Kirn sitting in on Gerhartsreiter's trial for the murder of a man whose inheritance made him a target.

Fascinating, both for the study of a psycho, but because Kirn sometimes thought of the man as a friend, but once the chinks began to appear, the author had to ask himself why he had fallen for such a terrible actor. 5

70. The King of Late Night by Greg Gutfeld
Part memoir about his family and previous career as a magazine editor, this also delves into politics a bit, and a lot of what he does differently from other late night talk shows. 3

Autumn Lives Here has the true story of the Cloverbloom egg poisonings, and the worst (best) things to be set in your state.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

71. The United States of Cryptids by J. W. Ocker
Cruising through the country to look at weird regional creatures and legends. You get the famous ones like Mothman, wendigos, the Beast of Bray Road, and lots and lots of Bigfoot, but you also get many cryptids you've never heard of unless you're from that one small town where something happened. Or just as likely, didn't happen. Ocker spills when it's obvious that a town just wanted to create some tourism.
It's a fun read. 4

Dang it! Once again, I nearly forgot the Cake of the Month. Trust me, it isn't like me to forget about cake.

November: Pumpkin Cake

>85 mstrust: taking a BB for this one, and I have never had pumpkin cake, so taking a slice of that also.

I hope you like the cryptid book; I like weird, regional tales. I was asking to my mom this morning, who lives in Nevada, if she'd ever heard of the giant sky clams seen in the Nevada desert :-D
Pumpkin cake is delicious! The easiest way is to take a box of spice cake mix and switch out the oil for pumpkin puree. It's moist and flavorful. I make cupcakes and top them with maple icing. *chef's kiss*

At Autumn Lives Here, I've got a new short story about the fact that not everyone is cut out for this whole love thing.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

72. Dating After The End of the World by Jeneva Rose
Casey has built a good life for herself in Chicago, where she's serving her residency and is engaged to a doctor. And then the world changes. One second she's making plans with her fiancée, the next, they're running from from attacking patients.
After six weeks of hiding in an apartment, Casey and Nate have learned to be quiet, but they're running out of food. And the most dangerous thing out there are the 'burners', the living people who were dangerous before the change and are on a free-for-all now that no one will stop them.
Left alone, Casey makes her way back to her prepper father's compound in Wisconsin. Her happiness at seeing her father is alive is dowsed by the fact that her high school bully, now a former Navy SEAL, is there and has befriended her father.

Were your favorite parts of The Walking Dead when Rick was fighting over Jessie, but you wished Rick was tackling her to the ground everyday like a five year-old? This has some good zombie action, but Casey and Blake are 30 year-old children. 3

A little garden update, mostly for myself: yesterday I prepped and sowed an additional six grow bags. I sowed Chocolate Cherry tomato from Botanical Interests, but most of what I sowed came from the seed event I went to last week, like Purple Beauty bell peppers and Nebuka green onions.
I have my first little Costoluto Genovese tomato growing! This is one of the 'accordion' style tomatoes and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. It should look something like this:

73. Life Among The Savages by Shirley Jackson
I'd read Jackson's best known books, the spooky stuff like The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery, so this memoir of her family life is truly a contrast but just as entertaining.
Receiving an eviction notice, Jackson, her husband, and their children and pets, find a rundown but previously grand house in Vermont, where Jackson has a third baby, learns to drive, takes her unruly children clothes shopping, and takes the reader through a night when the entire family is sick.
Her children had forceful personalities at a young age. When her son starts kindergarten, he comes home everyday with stories of what the worst boy in class did to create chaos. After several weeks of hearing about this little monster, Jackson goes to a PTA meeting and learns that her son is the one doing all of it.
Her howling four year-old daughter doesn't have an imaginary friend, she has an imaginary family, with seven daughters who don't brush their teeth. Jackson's stories are both hilarious, yet relatable in the amount of aggravation her family can cause.
These stories were gathered from articles she wrote beginning in 1948, the same year The Lottery caused such an uproar. 4

I'm also going to brag a bit. My story last week, (>89 mstrust: mstrust:) "You'll Never Be Alone", was picked as top in speculative fiction by the folks at the 'Top In Fiction' Substack. It's a nice little win.

>92 mstrust: I enjoyed that very much, high time I got around to more Shirley Jackson. And congrats on your writing success!

>92 mstrust: Congratulations on your story being a top pick!

>93 MissWatson: Thank you very much!
>94 christina_reads: Thanks, I was happy to see it picked!

>92 mstrust: Congrats. re: your story! It was a good one.

Why, thank you!

74. The Birds by Daphne du Maurier
A farmhand in a village along the English coast notices the sudden, huge flocks of birds that have gathered in the fields, trees, and even riding the sea, and he knows that all the different varieties don't usually flock together. His sense of unease leads him to board over the windows of his house and warn his neighbors, who laugh at him. Under a relentless attack by the birds, this man and his family grow increasingly certain that nobody is coming to help.
I'd wanted to read this story for years. It's pretty far removed from what Hitchcock would do with the story for his movie, really, just the title and basic premise of unexplained homicidal birds. In this story, the family's world keeps getting smaller as they retreat to their cottage and the birds find ways to get in. 4

Here's my 2026 Category Challenge. Come see me there!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/375544#n9010201

We're winding down 2025 at Autumn Lives Here, and this week is the creepy gift guide, a pumpkin champ, and a rum-filled dessert for the holiday table.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>98 mstrust: Have seen the movie a dozen times and it is truly one of the scariest! I'm off to find the book.

I've seen The Birds the most, more than all the other Hitchcocks combined, and I don't know if that's because it gets played on tv the most or I just come across it more often.
The movie differs so much that you'll be surprised by the story.

75. Ring by Koji Suzuki
The teenage niece of a reporter dies suddenly, and then three of her friends too. At the same time, a cab driver tells the reporter about a young man who dropped dead in front of him. These unexplained deaths send the reporter searching for what they had in common, and leads to him ticking off the days until his own death unless he can figure out how to stop the curse.

The investigators, Asakawa and his friend Ryuji, travel across Japan and its islands searching for clues to save their lives, but Ryuji is a deeply flawed hero, as he's a serial rapist who shows clear signs of psychopathy. The story of trying to beat the clock and figure out how to survive the curse is still enthralling though. I've put off watching the original movie until I finished the book. 4

And here's our final cake-a chocolate peppermint yule log. You may have to fight me for a slice.


And in case I haven't posted it, here's my 2026 Category Challenge. I hope you'll come by!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/375544#n9013219

The last post of Autumn Lives Here is up, and it's about my strange reading habits as a child.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

76. A Good Month For Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad by Del Quentin Wilber

Wilber has reported for several big newspapers, and here, he shadows several homicide squads in the Washington D.C. area, one of the most violent areas in the country. He reports on the investigations into many local murders, some made more difficult by the fact that both suspects and victims were drug dealers, making it even harder to find witnesses who will talk in neighborhoods where residents already don't want to speak to the police. A couple of the murders, however, become high-profile because the victims had nothing at all to do with crime, such as an honor roll teen who was killed by home intruders, or an elderly woman who was killed for her tv.
Wilber shows detectives who are run ragged investigating too many crimes on too little sleep. He provides the reader with an inside look at how the detectives have to be in multiple places at once, working days at a time with little rest. It's a hard life. Halfway through, we've met yet another detective described as "stocky" or "having a generous stomach", or another having to work while they're sick. Wilber is present for long interviews with witnesses and murder suspects, showing how certain interview techniques work on one detainee but not another. It's a rare insight into the job. 4.5

And that was my final true crime read for the year, which closes out my categories!

>92 mstrust: Wow--great job! Congrats!

Thanks! The year has really raken a downward turn recently, but I was happy back then with my little pat on the back.

>92 mstrust: Congratulations, it's a terrific story! I hope Don is happily home alone in his new house.

>108 mstrust: Wishing you better times to come.

Thank you very much! And thanks for reading.
I'd like to think he's happy in his new home too, but knowing Don...

I'm really hoping that my family gets a break from hospitals in 2026.